Ukraine Introduces New Legislation for Cryptocurrency Law

After a lot of speculation for fishy trading activities going within the decentralized cryptocurrency world, financial regulatory bodies across the globe are working towards introducing regulatory frameworks for local cryptocurrency trading platforms and exchanges.

The Ukrainian parliament has recently received a proposal for new legislation that issues some specific operating guidelines to the local trading platforms and exchanges and also brings it under the eyes of the country’s central bank.

Proposed by Konstantin Yarmolenko, advisor to the head of Ukraine’s State Agency for E-Governance, the bill reads:

“The lawmakers have made one dramatic mistake. They made the National Bank responsible for regulation of cryptocurrencies, even though the regulator itself has stated on numerous occasions that cryptocurrency is not a currency, and therefore, is not a part of its jurisdiction.”

In addition to setting up rules for the exchange services, the bill also talks about other services like the taxation and data redemption requirements. As per the new legislation framed, trading in cryptocurrencies with come under the ambit of law and the central bank will be monitoring all the cryptocurrency exchanges similar to the way it monitors the existing fiat currency exchanges.

Note that under the new legislation the central bank will be monitoring the exchanges and not backing any type of cryptocurrency. Putting this in two clear points, the bill reads:

“Section 1: The state is not liable, nor does it reimburse the value of crippling goods in case of its depreciation or loss for any other reasons.

Section 2: The State does not guarantee and does not take any measures to provide online cryptographic exchange services.”

If the legislation comes into effect and the bill is passed, the Ukrainian government will get two months from then for framing rules and guidelines for the exchanges. Also, the bill directs that the Ukrainian governments will “ensure that the ministries and other central executive bodies bring their normative legal acts into compliance with this law.”

As on date, Ukraine is still considered to be optimistic with the ongoing fintech shift in the global economy, however, it still doesn’t consider cryptocurrencies as legal tender.